Students to Travel the World to Help Others in Need

Many Valparaiso University students could easily spend their
entire two-week spring break on a sunny Florida beach, skiing in the
Rockies, or relaxing at home and simply recharging for the remainder of
the academic year. But each year, groups of hard-working individuals choose
to give back by traveling with their peers to assist communities in need.

The
Chapel of the Resurrection, including the Social
Action Leadership Team (SALT), is teaming with the Union on
five spring break service trips. Traveling on those trips are
64 volunteers — including nine chaperones and 55 undergraduate, graduate,
and international students. The locations they will be traveling include:
Harvey, Ill.; Detroit; Pine Ridge, S.D.; New Orleans; and Hicksville, N.Y.
For many of these trips, Valpo will be continuing work in the same
communities they worked in during past spring breaks. Follow these students
along the way on Twitter at #ValpoSB.

One local trip is to Harvey, Ill., where students will be
returning to Restoration Ministries to work with people who are recovering
from addictions to drugs and alcohol. The Christian training
facility offers a wonderful chance for students to share their faith as
well as put to use the knowledge they gain in their studies.

“It’s been a learning experience,” said Kathleen Parilac ’12,
who volunteered at Restoration Ministries last year. “I feel as if I’ve
been served more than I served. The residents here and their fascinating
stories of strength teach us more than we teach them.”

Also relatively close to home, students will be traveling with
University Pastor James Wetzstein to Detroit. While there, students will
be helping develop a pilot program for volunteer services such as the one
established in New Orleans. This program will familiarize students with the
city, exposing them to the culture as well as the hardship. Through
hands-on work and volunteering, students will be able to help with the
revitalization of a city in need.

“Through the spring break trips, students are able to see things
through other people’s eyes,” Wetzstein said. “These communities have been
through disaster and through encounters with their hardship, students can
learn from them.”

Students traveling to South Dakota will be working on a Native
American reservation where they will learn about the challenges facing the
tribe, as well as many other natives living on reservations. Students will
help the community by working to restore homes.

“Seeing them [the student workers] make new friends, try new
things, and experience service and culture together was something I really
enjoyed being a part of,” said Jessica Wilson, assistant director of
student activities. Wilson chaperoned the New Orleans trip last year and will
be accompanying students this year to the Pine Ridge Reservation. “I am looking
forward to this next adventure.”

Through both the New York trip and the trip to New Orleans,
students will be working to help restore the communities still recovering
from hurricane destruction. Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast last fall, and
students are traveling to aid rebuilding projects that will help
families return to life before the storm. Similarly, destruction caused by
Hurricane Katrina is still affecting the city of New Orleans, so students
will continue work to help the city rebuild.

“I wanted to go back to NOLA because it was the most humbling
experience I have had thus far in life,” said Kelli Chavez, a sophomore student
volunteer who took part in the New Orleans service trip last year and will
do so again this year. “I couldn’t believe how many people were still
being affected by Katrina… I loved being able to help those people directly.”

In
addition to the trips sponsored by SALT and the Union, Valparaiso
University’s Study Abroad office offers opportunities
for students to travel and serve. Through the College of
Nursing, students will be traveling to India, Thailand, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua, and Chile. These students will use their classroom knowledge of
nursing to help provide basic health care to communities in need.

Study
Abroad works with the Department of Theatre to bring students
to England, in order to study first hand in some of the most prestigious
theatres in the world. They also work with the graduate school to send
graduate students to France to study at an international business
school in Lyon. There will be a total of 60 students traveling through the
study abroad office, along with 17 faculty and staff members.

Don’t forget to track these students’ journeys on Twitter
at #ValpoSB.

Information Technology Announces Spring Training

The Office of
Information Technology is pleased to unveil the new Spring 2013 Training
Schedule. They have been working on designing training sessions to complement
and enhance the use of technology throughout the entire Valpo community.